Hummingbirds free essay sample

The scientific method will be given as my determination as to provide an answer to the question in consideration. Samples of colorful flowers are planted on the left side of a garden and non-colorful flowers are planted on the right side of a garden. Observation over a month’s time with video surveillance will give proof of which flower the ruby-throated hummingbird goes to more often; thus determining whether the ruby-throated hummingbird prefers a bright color for pollination. Introduction As I was hiking one day, I noticed a ruby-throated hummingbird hovering over my bright red hat. At first I was a bit startled and decided to play it cool and just keep walking slowly. The ruby-throated hummingbird seemed to hover a bit and then just darted away as if it has lost all interests. I wondered why the bird hovered over my red hat and decided to do some research. After a little bit of research, I determined that the ruby-throated hummingbird does pick bright colored flowers to pollinate (Sargent, 1999). We will write a custom essay sample on Hummingbirds or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page My bright red hat could have been an attraction to the ruby-throated hummingbird. Question: Do ruby-throated hummingbirds prefer some colors more than others when visiting flowers? Hypothesis: Could planting colorful flowers within a garden attract a ruby-throated hummingbird to pollinate? Prediction: The brightest colored flowers, such as red, will attract a ruby-throated hummingbird for pollination. Methods Purchase small flowers in potting pots with colors; white, orange, red, yellow and pink, and plant them into a controlled garden outside. The garden will be divided into two sections, right and left. The left garden section will hold the colorful flowers: orange, red and yellow. The right garden section will hold the non-colorful flowers: white and pale pink. After the garden has been prepared, a video camera is set up to observe on a daily basis. The camera surveillance will record any activity during the week of observation. Check footage and take notes of any activity of pollination to each flower. Make note of the flower color that gets the most attention from the ruby-throated hummingbird. ?In a month’s timeline, examine the activity of pollination shown to each flower from a ruby-throated hummingbird. ?Calculate the number of ruby-throated hummingbirds visited to each flower within a month’s time. ?Control variables for this experiment include, 1) the colo r of the flower; 2) pollination activity; 3) the amount of ruby-throated hummingbirds that pollinated on each flower. Expected Results: I expect that the brighter colored flowers will attract the ruby-throated hummingbirds more often than the others. The red flower will most likely attract the most ruby-throated hummingbirds for pollination. Table 1: Number of ruby-throated hummingbirds that pollinated each color of flowers observed by camera surveillance is shown below: Flower Color# of Flowers Pollinated at 2 weeks# of Flowers Pollinated at 4 weeks Red84 Orange21 Yellow00 White00 Pink00 Chart 1: Charted activity of ruby-throated hummingbirds that pollinated flowers Conclusion From the data above, we can come to the conclusion that ruby-throated hummingbirds do favor brighter colored flowers, especially red. The ruby-throated hummingbirds are designed to pollinate brighter colored flowers because they see in wave lengths (Sargent, 1999). This allows them to pick the exact flower that has been specifically designed for their pollination. The ruby-throated hummingbirds are also attracted to flowers with a high content of sugar, or sucrose and/or glucose and fructose (Smith, 2009). It just so happens that those flowers are mostly bright in color as well. References: https://plants.usda.gov/pollinators/Ruby-throated_hummingbird.pdf